


Nothing to Lose

by Boo2020



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-21
Updated: 2014-02-21
Packaged: 2018-01-13 06:09:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,069
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1215538
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Boo2020/pseuds/Boo2020
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Korra gets the ability to give bending back after Amon's tirades, she wants to get to one specific person in particular.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Nothing to Lose

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this before Book 2 of LoK came out, but I still wish something like this had happened in Book 2! Now hoping for a Tahno appearance in Book 3...
> 
> If this story looks familiar to anyone, I had posted this a while ago under a different username (now deleted).
> 
> Thanks in advance for any kudos/comments.

Korra stopped in front of the restaurant where she had spent her date with Bolin those many months ago. Of course, it had been a date to Bolin, but to Korra it was nothing more than a casual outing with a friend. She sighed, not wanting to think about that. She had hurt Bolin and she still felt guilty about it, even though he had assured her that he was over it, and he probably was. Bolin wasn't the type to dwell on things he couldn't change. She took a deep breath, pushing those thoughts out of her head; she was here for a happy reason today.  
  
The noise coming from within indicated that the restaurant was packed, and the smell of Water Tribe food wafting out from inside made her mouth water. She watched as a group of kids came running out, laughing after just enjoying a meal. Korra stepped up to grab the door as the last one rushed out, and entered the place herself. As she had figured, it was full of people from all of the different nations, and Korra was proud that so many people enjoyed the Water Tribe food she had grown up on in the South Pole. She walked up to the bar and took a seat on one of the stools, calling over the bartender.

"What can I help you with, dear?" the bartender asked. He was an older man, but friendly with the customers, and Korra could tell from his clothing that he was from one of the Water Tribes, probably moving to Republic City to open his business. It seemed unlikely that he was born in the city, because of his age.

"Yes, do you know a man named Tahno? He was the captain of the White Falls Wolfbats in the Pro-Bending League?"

The bartender leaned against the counter. "I never really was one for pro-bending," he paused, seeming to think for a second. "Sorry, can't say that I do, why?"

Korra was disappointed. "I'm looking for him. I know he used to come here a lot, but I don't know anymore, it's been a while since I've seen him," she said, looking down at her hands.

"We get so many customers in here; I can't even remember most of the ones who come here regularly."

Korra nodded. "It’s okay. I'll just wait here and see if I spot him at all." The bartender nodded and walked away to converse with a different customer.

While she waited, she remembered the first time she had met Tahno, right here in this very restaurant. He had been completely arrogant and the look he gave her - while insinuating things that made her feel ill to her stomach at the time - made her want to punch his face in... But the last time she had seen Tahno it had been a few days after the disaster at the Pro-Bending Arena, when Amon had destroyed it and attacked him, taking away his bending for cheating in the tournament. Tahno had looked terrible, but he had managed to be civil towards Korra, obviously regretting the things he had done previously. She knew how he felt, how terrible it felt to have your bending ripped from your body, stolen by a stranger who thought he was doing what was right. It was like having an arm or a leg cut off, and it was awful. Korra cringed when she thought about how she felt after Amon had taken her bending away. It was true that she was still able to airbend, but she still felt worthless as the Avatar. Unable to use her other three abilities, Korra had thought about killing herself, and allowing a new Avatar to be born. Luckily, she had been saved in time. She couldn't help smiling to herself. The memory of Avatar Aang restoring her bending to her was still fresh in her mind, and she doubted if it would ever stop feeling new to her.

Lost in her thoughts, she jumped when the front door swung open, hitting the wall with a thump, and when Korra turned her head to look, Tahno was walking through the restaurant. She was surprised at his appearance, more like the confident, cocky Tahno that had cheated his way to victory than the sad, pathetic Tahno she had last seen. He was with the other two men from his team, and she realized that Amon had taken their bending too. She had never really thought about them, not having met them officially.

Tahno didn’t notice her, and he went to sit at a table with the two other Wolfbats. Korra couldn’t wait any longer, so she got up and sauntered over to their table. Tahno was sitting with his back towards her, but one of the other Wolfbats noticed her and pointed. Tahno swiveled in his chair.

“What is it?” he was saying. Then he caught sight of Korra. “Uh-vatar?”

Korra couldn’t help rolling her eyes at the nickname Tahno had gifted her all those weeks ago. “Hey,” she said, leaning against the table. “Fancy seeing you here, Tahno.”

Tahno raised an eyebrow. "Everyone knows I hang out here regularly. What do you want?”

Korra looked at Tahno’s friends. “Could we maybe speak alone?”

Tahno’s lips curled into a smirk, the same one she had seen when they first met, and it didn’t make her feel good. She had thought that after losing his bending he would have mellowed out, but apparently it didn’t take long for a guy like Tahno to bounce back. “Did things not work out between you and that firebender, Mako?” he said, while his Wolfbat buddies giggled across from him.

"Pfft," Korra felt her face getting hot, she couldn't believe him! How did he even know about Mako? Was it really that obvious that she had had a major crush on him during the tournament? "Just come with me!" she demanded.

"Fine," Tahno said, getting up and waving at his friends as Korra stalked away, eager to be away from them so she only had to deal with Tahno himself. He followed her all the way outside. “Mind telling me where you’re taking me, Uh-vatar?”

“Only if you stop with that  _Uh-vatar_ stuff. My name is Korra.”

Tahno shrugged. “I’ll just wait and see then.”

Korra huffed and continued walking. It wasn’t far to the docks, and she wanted to be sure they were near water when she gave Tahno the good news. She heard his footsteps quicken and soon he was walking beside her. She watched him out of the corner of her eye. He was staring down at the ground as he walked, looking much less confident than he had a few minutes ago. He lifted a hand to rub the back of his neck. “So, I heard Amon got you too, huh?”

Korra was caught off guard. She didn’t know that it was common knowledge to the public that she had indeed had her bending taken away by Amon. She had been in the South Pole for the past few weeks, resting after all of the business with Amon and the Equalists was over with. She hadn’t even found out what had happened to Amon until she came back to Republic City with Tenzin, the news of the bodies that had washed ashore just days before her arrival reaching her almost immediately. The City Council wanted the Avatar aware of everything that had happened while she was away, but that seemed to be the only news of significant importance. It made her stomach twist to think about what must have happened, and the fact that Tarrlok was gone as well surprised her the most. Despite all of the terrible things they had put her through, she hoped they finally had peace, together in the Spirit World.

“Yeah,” she said, finally answering Tahno, who had started to look at her, wondering if she hadn’t heard him. “I mean, he took everything but my airbending.”

Tahno looked away from her. “And you’re… okay?”

Korra nodded. “I’m better than okay.” The dock was just ahead now, and the lights from the street shone on the water, making it glisten in the night. She walked all the way to the end and sat down, legs dangling over the edge, above the water. Tahno stood beside her for a second.

“Korra, why did you bring me here?”

“I wanted to know how you were doing. I haven’t seen you since what happened at the Pro-Bending tournament.”

Tahno sat down beside her and shrugged. “I’ve been doing okay. I mean, Ming and Shaozu have been great, we’ve gone through this together. They both had their bending taken away too, after all,” he said, and Korra realized he was talking about his Wolfbat teammates. “I’m finally getting used to it.” He held a hand out over the water and moved it in a simple waterbending gesture, but the water remained still. “I miss it like crazy sometimes though. I don’t even know if I would still know how to do it. Do you think, if I got it back, I’d still be able to bend the way I did before?” The arrogant Tahno that had been in the restaurant was gone now. Maybe he only acted that way around his friends, to help them feel better as well. Maybe he wasn’t as okay as he let on. Korra couldn’t hold it off any longer.

Ignoring his question, she got up. “Tahno, I need to give you something.”

He looked at her, eyebrows furrowed. “What?”

“Kneel in front of me.”

Tahno eyed her suspiciously. “What? Why?”

“Just do it, trust me.”

He sighed. “I guess I have nothing to lose.”

 _But everything to gain,_ Korra thought. He kneeled in front of Korra, facing her. She pressed her right thumb into his forehead, resting her left hand on his chest. She took a deep breath, letting the energy of the past Avatars rush through her. Tahno gasped when her eyes began to glow, but he didn’t pull away. For some reason, he did trust her.

Korra let the energy flow from her and into Tahno, who closed his eyes at the strange warmth that enveloped him. It slowly moved throughout his entire body, and then dissipated, from the inside out. Korra removed her hands, her eyes fading back to normal.

Tahno looked at her. “What did you do?”

Korra smiled. “Why don’t you find out?” she gestured toward the water, but Tahno looked confused. “Look,” she said. She walked to the edge of the dock and lifted her hands, lifting two small bubbles of water up. She left them fall back, and then shot a blast of fire off of the dock and out into the night. “Amon  _did_  take my bending away. But it was returned to me.”

A look of recognition settled on Tahno’s face, and he got up from his kneeling position on the ground. He swung his hands up, and the water lifted with them, splashing up against the dock like a tidal wave. He twisted his hands and the water changed, turning into two separate water spouts, hovering in place. Then, he froze them. The two round spouts were still, the ice glittering in the light from the street.

Korra was grinning. “I guess this means you  _can_  still waterbend the way you used to, huh?”

Tahno was staring down at his hands, as if he was imagining everything. “I don’t know what to say – how did you do this?”

“Let’s just say an old friend taught me.”

He smiled, shaking his head. “Thank you, Korra.”

She nodded. “You’re welcome, Tahno.”

He turned back to the ice spouts on the water, and waved his hand at them. They changed back into liquid, which fell back into the ocean. “I don't want to ask too much, but can you also return Ming and Shaozu’s bending? If I was the only one… I’d feel terrible, after all they've helped me with these past few weeks.”

“Of course. Besides, who are the Fire Ferrets going to compete against next season if the White Falls Wolfbats aren’t back together?”

Tahno grinned at her. “Exactly. But this time, it’ll be fair and square.”

“And this time, you won’t beat us,” she said, holding out a hand. He took it in his, squeezing hers.

“You wish,  _Uh-vatar_.”


End file.
